The Discussion
by Faeyre
Summary: Crossover with Brotherband Chronicles and Ranger's Apprentice, kind of Yay some well-known characters meet each other To be continued Um, someone help me with rating if this is the wrong one?


Hal and his friends were playing a game of sneaky statues. It had been recently invented by Hal when the Heron brotherband had been bored.

"WHY does Jesper keep winning?" everyone kept asking.

"Because." Stefan, who was currently watching for movement, replied. "Got you, Wulf. You too, Ulf."

"He saw you first!"

"No, he saw _you_ first!"

"Shut up, will you?" Stig asked.

Pretty soon Stefan was only watching Jesper. It was frustratingly hard, Stefan thought, for him to see it because Jesper was just too quick.

Meanwhile, Svengal and Erak were having a discussion in a private room. The two men were seated so that they each had an uninterrupted view of the boys' game.

"Hal's a thinker. A brilliant one," Svengal noted.

"As are all Araluens. Can't believe you didn't notice sooner."

"This just reminds me of that war with the Temujai a few years ago…"

"You mean that Ranger? The tactician? He definitely had the most grim expression on his face. Ever," the Oberjarl said. "They do have the strangest expressions, those Araluens."

Both of the Skandians tried unsuccessfully to imitate an Araluen expression.

"Well…" Svengal said, "Hal's part Araluen. Maybe he can do it."

He rose from his seat and went outside.

Hal was looking at his friends, trying to catch any sign of movement. Suddenly, in his peripheral vision, he noticed something and spun towards it quickly. He saw Svengal walking towards them.

"Hal, may we see you for a few minutes? Just need to ask you a question in private."

Hal looked at his friends, but they didn't move.

"All right… bye then, see you soon!" he grumbled. Of course, they _were_ playing Sneaky Statues.

Back in Erak's room, he was wondering what was taking his first mate so long. Then, right when he was going to go out himself, the doors opened to reveal a very surprised-looking Hal.

"Oberjarl, what do you want with me?" he asked nervously. As far as he was concerned, the Oberjarl only saw people on rare occasions, mostly if they were in serious trouble.

"Can you raise one eyebrow without moving the other one?" Erak asked.

Hal tried several times, but failed miserably.

"What has that got to do with anything?"

"Nothing," Erak answered gruffly.

Just then, a guard ran in. "You had better come see this."

"I see a ship! It looks Araluen (do Araluens have unique ships?)!" the guard on watch yelled. "Go notify the Oberjarl!"

The other guard took off immediately. What if the Araluens were canceling the treaty? But the ship was by itself, and it didn't look armed at all. A red pennant with a swooping hawk was flying. The guard squinted, just to be sure. Then he hurried down to greet the Araluens.

Erak arrived just in time to see the ship finish landing. He noticed that he recognized everyone on board the ship.

"Will!" he called loudly.

"Erak!" Will screamed back.

On board, Halt covered his ears.

"You'd never make a good Ranger, being as loud as you are," he said with the hint of a smile. The old friends greeted each other enthusiastically. Hal was nearby, watching them. Then Erak remembered what he and Svengal had been doing earlier.

"Hal? Come over here. Meet these Araluens."

"Hello. Pleased to meet you," he said. "My name is Hal."

"This is Will, Evan- sorry, Cassandra, Horace, and that seriously grim faced person is Halt," Alyss replied. "Pleased to meet you too."

Hal was sure he had heard the name "Halt" before, but he couldn't remember it now. He noticed two of the men had longbows, and were wearing nondescript cloaks. In fact, looking at them, he could barely make out their forms. It was all hazy and meddled with his mind. Hal studied the other man, who had a sword. A knight, Hal remembered from something he had read long ago. Then he looked at the women. Nothing special, except that one had a necklace with round marbles strung on it. After introductions were made, the Skandians realized it was lunchtime, and the visitors were invited to eat in the hall.

Later, when they were in one of Erak's rooms studying tactics, Hal finally figured out where he had heard the name before.

"You were in that battle with the Temujai!" he said.

Halt turned a baleful eye on him. "Obviously."

That was when Erak remembered the expression.

"Would you Araluens please show Hal that one-eyebrow-raised expression?" he asked.

All five of them raised one eyebrow at Hal. Surprised, Hal unconsciously took half a step backwards.

"I can't do that…"

"It takes practice," Horace replied.


End file.
